The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-08-20
TEMPERANCE READING.
CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE.


As to the effect of alcohol upon hui
man health and vigor, so fearful is the
record, and so repeated and almost
universal is the testimony, that we
need not to repeat much of it. Perhaps
the most convincing recent evidence is
that of the returns of vital statistics of
the Registrar-General for England and
Wales, for the ten years from 1870 to
1880 inclusive. These are contained in
the supplement of the FOrty-fifth An
nual Report QS85J, in which are tabu-
lated the facts as to two million six
hundred and seventy-nine thousand
four hundred and sixteen deaths These
are the results of unimpasSioned fig
ures, gathered outside of the records of
Reform Societies:
The mortality of men who are directly con-
cerned in the liquor trade, as breweries, inn
keepers, publicans, inn and hotel servants, and
MASTERS is appalling. The comparative NOR
tally figures are as follows, 1000 being used as
standard: Brewers, 1861; all dealers in spir-
its, wines or beer, 1891; inn and hotel servants,
2,205. For malsters, who are only concerned
with the materials and not with the liquor
ITSELF the figure is S30'
The report proceeds as follows:
ut is well, whenever the opportunity pre-
sents itself, to test the accuracy of our death
rates by comparison with data derived from in
dependent sources and in the case OF the inn
keepers and publicans such comparison is pos
sible. BY the experience of the Scottish Ami
cable Life Assurance Society CS26-1S76), the
mortality Of males occupied in this business
was 6S per cent. in access OF the actuaries or
healthy male-tabe, and 40 per cent. in excess
of the English life-table. This result TALES
very closely with figures i'll our table, where it
appears that the mortality of the inn-keepers
and publicans is SO per cent. above the present
mortality of all males.
THAT this terrible mortality is attributable
to drink might be safely assumed a priori, but
the figures render it incontestable. The NOR
tally attributed to alcoholism itself is far high
er for inn-keepers and publicans than for any
other industry, and more than five times as
high as the average; that for brewers falls far
short Of this, but, nevertheless, is the next
highest to that Of inn-keepers, with the single
exception OF cabmen. Under the heading
Liver Diseases the mortality OF inn-keepers
is no less than six times as high as the average,
and more than twice as high as that of brewers
and Of butchers, who come next in order in
this respect to inn-keepers There are
in short, no organs apparently that are not
sive use Of alcoholic drinks, though the liver
appears to suffer the most.
1T may also be worth noting that COMPARE
son between Mr.. Nelson's figures and our own
comparative mortality figures shows that
large proportion OF the innkeepers and public
ans, and of the brewers, must be OF temperate
habits; for whereas the comparative mortality
figure Of innkeepers in our table is 1881, and
that Of brewers is 1861, that for recognized in
temperate persons, according to Mr. Nelson's
data, would be 3,24o."
Their desire for profitable business
often helps to restrain innkeepers from
drunkenness. While the tables show
the greater evil of distilled liquors,
the wine and beer death-rate is enorm-
Gus.
Such is the excess of death-rate
among those whose business interests
help to restrain them from drunken
ness.
At the same standard, the mortality
figure for clergymen shows the con-
trast of $50; for gardeners, 500; for
farmers. 631, and for agricultural la
borers, 701.
In addition, the statisticians say that
the excessive mortality in many other
callings, as that of cabmen, ETC., is one
to be accounted for by the use of alco-
holic liquids, although this is not stated
as the cause. Here are some of the
statistical comments:
Commercial travellers, who lead mostly an
out-of-door existence, have a mortality of 948
That a very considerable proportion of the NOR
tally is due to this cause is apparent when it is
noted that under the headings Alcoholism,
Liver Disease, Govt Suicide, the mortality fg
ures for this occupation come very high up on
the list. The death-rate of tailors, 1851, and
that OF shoemakers 9G1, are both high. While
both trades are sedentary and somewhat I'M
healthy much OF the excess arises from those
diseases which point to alcohol as q cause"
These are but specimens of very
many other employments in which the
statistical record points to an excess of
diseases in which, in the opinion of
the statisticians, the high proportion is
mostly to be charged to the habitual
use of alcohol, and often by those who
were not regarded as Incorporate.
In different persons different organs
seem to feel the severity of the dis
twbance, but all are more orless weak
ened. Authorities may differ in their
estimate of causes which have pro-
duced embarrassing and finally fatal
changes in various secreting and ex-
creting organs; but we believe no one
has yet been found to dispute the I'M
rivaled capacity of alcohol to produce
irritative and degencrative changes in
the minute capillary circulation on
which the integrity and ability of the
vital organs depend. This does not
absolutely retire it from use in the
hands of the skilled physician in
emergencies of disease, any more than
it does opium, belladonna, or corrosive
sublimate; but it does certify that
alcohol is the most riskful of drinks,
in all that relates to the circulation
of the blood in those organs whose vi
tally and function depend on the per-
fectness of their capillary circulation.
1t is essentially a disturber of the
rhythm and the function of the blood
FLOWN. Y. INDEPENDENT